


what makes you human?

by katebishoop



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Biology, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Body Image, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Love Confessions, M/M, Major Character Injury, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Obsessive-Compulsive, POV Multiple, Pining Shiro (Voltron), Pre-Relationship, Puberty, Season/Series 02, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-11-30 21:52:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11472405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katebishoop/pseuds/katebishoop
Summary: Keith's infiltration of Zarkon's ship doesn't go as planned. He doesn't return the same.The last thing Keith had seen was Haggar staring down at him. The first thing he saw when he woke up was a blur of yellow, Shiro, and the purple creeping up his arm.---An alternative ending to Season 2.





	1. the angsty prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I started back in February and then forgot about it. And then gave up fanfiction and deleted my Tumblr.
> 
> I had a feeling Voltron S3 would bring me back here.
> 
> This was meant to be a oneshot but since coming back to it it's evolved into something more. The doc title for this was "the angsty prologue."

**Shiro**

_ “Going onto Zarkon’s ship is a suicide mission. I would never command someone so inexperienced to go on a mission so dangerous.” _

_ “No one’s commanding me. I’m doing it.” _

Shiro hadn’t commanded him, no one could command Keith, not really. But Shiro hadn’t tried to talk him out of it either. 

In his reflection, Shiro looked haggard; on the other side of the healing pod’s glass, Keith looks a million times worse.

\-----

“Keith? Keith do you copy?” Shiro yelled over the comms. “Keith, report?  _ Keith _ !”

“I’m not getting any signal from his helmet,” Pidge said. “The virus they uploaded may be jamming the line.”

Shiro shot down a few more Galra ships, but all his attention remained on Zarkon’s ship. 

“Come on, Keith,” Shiro whispered to himself.  _ Get out of there. _

Shiro felt it before he saw it: a jolt through his body, through the Lion’s connection, and then from the corner of his eyes, The Red Lion had zoomed by, a harsh and wild energy radiating off it. It growled and roared, shooting at Zarkon’s ship.

“Keith?” Lance, over the comms. “Where are you going? We gotta form Voltron!”

Shiro knew Keith like he knew himself. He could recognize his presence anywhere, and while Keith and the Red Lion were bonded something else was missing.

_ “It has a bond with Keith! It knows when he’s in danger!” _

Keith wasn’t piloting the Red Lion. He was still on Zarkon’s ship, in mortal peril if his Lion was acting this way. 

_ Keith Keith Keith Keith Keith- _

“Shiro... “ Hunk, it was Hunk in his ear. “Shiro… what do we do?”

The Red Lion wailed in the connection - they all felt it, the pain, the fear, the  _ desperation _ .

_ Keith. _

But then there’s another feeling, stronger than the rest: determination.

Shiro swallowed hard. The connection between all of them was thrumming with life and energy, a Richter scale going off the charts.

“Form  _ Voltron _ .”

\-----

They’re disoriented, they’ve been blown apart - but they did it. He was pretty sure at least.

_ But Keith, Keith, where are you? _

The Red Lion zoomed by again, and for a brief moment, Shiro saw through her eyes.

“Everyone, back to the castle!” Shiro yelled over the comms. “Red’s got Keith, we need to go,  _ now _ .”

* * *

**Lance**

He’s not the first to get there - Coran, Allura, and that Blade of Marmora guy are already there - at the foot of the Red Lion.

Coran was speaking: “Keith’s life force is in there, but it’s weak-”

“The Red Lion won’t open,” Allura told Lance when he skidded to a stop in front of them.

The Galra - Voli-?  _ Kolivan  _ \- that was his name, spoke: “She is waiting.”

At first, Lance didn’t understand. Waiting for what? Keith was in danger! She’s supposed to protect him-

There’s footsteps charging behind him, the Red Lion leaned down, it’s mouth open, a streak of black and white ran by-

Lance understood.

Shiro ran up the ramp, Kolivan and Allura close behind. Lance felt an arm around his shoulder. It was Hunk, worry etched on his face. His other arm was around Pidge, whose face was covered by the shine of her glasses. 

They all flinched when they heard Shiro’s wailing yell echo out of the Red Lion.

\-----

When they brought to Keith into the infirmary, he looked normal, almost peaceful. He had scrapes and bruises and cuts on his face - but still, it was Keith. He looked like he was asleep, blissfully asleep.

But then they removed his helmet and his armor. And then they removed his thermal suit.

The deep gash on Keith’s shoulder that he had received from the Trails of Marmora had ripped open. There was blood, blood everywhere - but that wasn’t even the worst of it.  

It was like the life had been sucked out of Keith. His ribs were visible against his pale skin, his bones jutting out at all angles. Then over his heart his skin was purple - lightning bolts of purple, spreading out like a virus, down his chest, and up his neck.

Lance can’t look away, no matter how much he wanted to. 

“Keith-” Shiro voiced cracked, and Lance cringed. “What-”

“Haggar,” Kolivan said, somber.

Coran clicked away at the holographic screens, preparing the healing pod. “It’s like most of the quintessence has been drained out of him.”

“What do we do?” Shiro’s voice is full of panic. “Coran, how do we save him?”

Coran’s eyes locked with Lance’s. Lance wasn’t sure when he was able to communicate like this with the Altean, but he knew exactly what Coran was asking. 

Lance nudged Hunk flicked his head towards Shiro. Hunk’s face was grave, a bit sad, but he understood too.

Lance put his hand on Shiro’s shoulder, while Hunk went to the side with Shiro’s human arm.

“Shiro,” Lance said, swallowing. “We need to go.”

Shiro’s head spun wildly to face Lance. He looked almost feral. “I’m not leaving Keith-”

Hunk pulled on Shiro’s arm, and Lance grabbed the other.

“Let go of me!”

“We gotta give them space to work.” Hunk said, reassuringly. “We need-”

Shiro was fighting in their grasp. He was stronger than the both of them. “ _ LET GO OF ME _ .”

A flash of lightning burst in the corner of Lance’s eye, and Shiro slumped to the floor.

He could see Pidge’s face clearly now - brimming with tears as she looked down at Shiro’s unconscious form, her bayard in hand.

* * *

**Pidge**

Pidge has been avoiding everyone since their takedown of Zarkon. She hasn’t left Green’s hangar in days. Hunk brought her food a few hours ago, but she hasn’t touched most of it. 

Keith’s been in the cryopod for four quintents now, in deep cryofreeze. They found the healing pod itself wasn’t doing anything - his wounds weren’t healing, he wasn’t stabilizing, the purple on his skin kept spreading. Their only hope for him was to put him on ice.

And unless she can think of something, he’s going to remain there.

She’s run out of ideas though, and her mind is so numb forced herself to take a break. And by a break, she meant switch gears to analyzing the footage of her brother’s escape from Galra prison.

_ Where are you, Matt. _

“Eyyyyy - Pidge!” 

Pidge looked up to see Lance, a plate of food in his hands.

“Hunk already brought me food,” Pidge grumbled.

“Yeah, but this is  _ dessert _ .” He sets the plate down in front of her. It’s pink, slightly melty. It smells just how Pidge remembers Pepto Bismol smelling.

“And it’s supposed to be…?”

“It’s supposed to be ice cream,” Lance said, shrugging. “But it’s kind of spicy? It’s not bad, for space goo comfort food.”

Pidge poked it with her finger. It sure felt like ice cream. 

Pidge sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Tell Hunk thanks. But I don’t think the spicy milk is going to comfort me.”

Lance pouted and tossed the dessert into the trash bin. He then pushed aside all her stuff and sat on the table.

“You’re a dick,” Pidge said.

“You are what you eat.”

Pidge blinked at him.

Lance groaned. “I’m running on empty here. Most of my stuff lately came from Mullet, but he’s…”

The unsaid word hung in the air. The word they dare not think about because it wasn’t true no matter how much it felt like it.

Keith wasn’t dead yet. Not if she could help it.

“I’ve tried multiple scenarios but I can’t find anything.” Pidge closed out of the video of her brother. “Allura performing a ceremony like she does on the Balmera, but that’s not the same. We can't just take some from the Lions. He’s lost so much…”

If only she could test her ideas outside of a computer simulation. But once they took Keith off ice they wouldn’t have much time.

“If only we had one of those big tubs that the Galra had,” Lance said. “Then we could just toss him in and let Mullet-head do all the work.”

Pidge froze. “What?”

“Remember from that hub Allura got captured on?” Lance said. “They had all these tanks of pure quintessence they drained out of-”

Pidge jumped up from her chair. “Lance you’re a genius!”

He looked confused. “Uh, wha- I mean, yes. Yes I am.”

Pidge grabbed her computer and began heading out the door. “Tell everyone to meet on the bridge in ten!”

“Ten  _ what _ ?” Lance called after her.

But she didn’t have time to respond. She thinks she found her answer. But all the excitement has made her have to pee.

\-----

“If we can get onto a Galra ship - a bigger one, like a cargo ship - we can access the manifests, try to find the things that don’t add up, the stuff their hiding. That’s got to be the quintessence. If we can get that, that amount of pure quintessence - we could save Keith.”

Pidge took in a big breath. Seven faces stared back at her, processing what she said.

Allura was the first to speak. “You mean to use the quintessence that the Galra harvested, killing entire planets?”

Pidge adjusted her glasses. “Look, the Galra already killed those planets. We’re stealing what they stole, and using it for the greater good, so…”

Everyone was thinking. It was Shiro though that Pidge paid the most attention to though because it was the first time she’s seen him since she tazed him unconscious. 

He looks gaunt. She can’t really tell but part of her thinks that his hair is whiter than usual. His scar blends with the deep worry lines on his face.

“How are we going to get the information?” Hunk asked. “The alarm will go off if Shiro uses his arm, and Keith’s Galra, but we can’t use him.”

“The Blade of Marmora will assist,” Kolivan said, just like Pidge hoped he would. “Without the Red Paladin, you cannot form Voltron. The universe is still under the control of the Galra Empire, even with your victory.”

“Then it’s settled then.” Pidge jumped at the voice and turned to see Shiro looking at all them now instead of out the window. “Pidge, start scanning for Galra ships. Hunk, Coran, Slav - make any needed repairs to the ship and the Lions. We need to be ready.”

“There is a ninety-eight percent chance that this won’t go as planned and will end in catastrophic failure,” Slav said. "And a ninety-six point six percent chance that that much raw quintessence will kill him."

The fact that Shiro was so worn down that he didn't even look annoyed at Slav worried her.

But they had a plan now, and screw Slav. She’d make it work.

* * *

**Hunk**

Everything was going to plan. That worried Hunk.

They had gotten the information smoothly. The located the quintessence quickly.

They were loading up the quintessence onto the Green Lion when it all went to shit.

“ _ Paladins _ !” Allura’s voice rang over the comms. “The hull’s been breached! There's an intruder in the castle!”

_ What? _

“Allura - did you see where they came from?” Shiro asked, running into the Green Lion

“They opened a wormhole right from under us!” Allura shouted “Their heading for the generator-”

Her voice cut off.

Generator. Ships power. Control over systems.

Shiro began to sprint.

_ Keith _ .

\-----

Hunk had never seen Shiro move this fast before.

They were almost to the infirmary when they sped past Allura, who probably just managed to break through the bridge’s door. 

And at the door to the infirmary, Shiro wasted no time. He lit his Galra hand up and sliced through it. 

Hunk didn’t think this could get any worse, but it could. 

“Weblum Galra guy?” Hunk blurted out. Because that’s who it was. It was the same armor as the Galra they had ran into inside the Weblum, who Keith had saved, who had betrayed them.

And there he was, holding Keith’s limp body, with a syringe pressed into his neck.

“Let him go!” Shiro snarled. But he didn’t move - he didn’t dare move, not with the intruder having a needle in Keith’s neck.

Hunk couldn’t hear Lance behind him. Breathing in and out slowly as he tried to line up the perfect shot.

“Haggar sends her regards.” The intruder said. And the next thing Hunk knew Shiro was charging, Lance was shooting, Keith was being thrown at them, and the intruder - 

He vanished into thin air.

Shiro caught Keith. “Keith? Keith can you hear me?”

The purple lines on Keith’s body were starting to spread more rapidly. Keith - thankfully - hadn’t awoken, hadn’t made any noise - he was silent as he shuddered in pain as the virus kept going.

“Where’s the quintessence? We have to get him in there now-”

“But we don’t know what that thing was-”

“There’s  _ no time- _ !”

* * *

**Keith**

He was almost out when the explosion hit him. It sent him barreling down several floors, deeper into the ship. He was caught under some debris, and by the time that he dug himself free, Haggar had found him.

She shot her druid magic, black lightning bolts, right at him - and that’s the last thing he remembers.

\-----

He’s back in the shack with his father. Even though his father never stepped foot in that place, he’s connected to it now.

“Your mother will be here soon.” His father said, over, and over again. Never once responding to Keith’s words, cries, screams.

Out the window he saw Shiro - and Pidge and Hunk and Lance and the Lions - fighting without him, losing.

Keith saw a reflection in the window - one that was purple with yellow eyes.

\-----

When Keith regained consciousness, he felt perfectly rested. He didn’t feel any aches or pains.

He must be dead.

When he opened his eyes, there was a tinge of yellow to everything.

“What the…” 

“You’re awake.” 

Keith turned and saw Shiro, sitting by his bedside. He was obscured by the weird lighting, but it still felt like Shiro was in some kind of high definition. He  _ felt  _ the worry on Shiro’s face. 

“So, I’m not dead then?”

Shiro rubbed a hand over his face. “We had to put you in cryofreeze. It was like you were dead.”

“Shiro…” Keith stretched out a hand towards him, but froze when he saw his hand. It was purple. “Shiro, what happened.”

Shiro took his hand, and his other one - only one was purple,  _ why was one of his hands purple _ -

He handed Keith his Galra blade, and in its reflection he saw it.

Purple skin crept up his neck, over his ears, which were now pointed like Allura’s. And on the left side of his face, looking back at him, was one solid yellow eye.

His nightmare was staring back at him.


	2. the kindling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for some mild references to self-harm via obsessive compulsive behavior, ie washing.
> 
> The previous title of this fic was "catalyst" and was originally a one shot, the start of a series. I decided it would work better as a chapter story because I'm indecisive.

**Keith**

The smoldering hot water of the shower pelted down on Keith’s skin as he scrubbed his skin raw.

But no matter how hard he scrubbed, no matter how much blood he drew, he couldn’t get rid of the purple.

He couldn’t make the Galra go away.

It started from his heart, covering most of his chest, around his side, and down his back. It crept up his left arm and down his right leg, stopping above the knee. His entire neck was purple, his jaw line. His ears, which were now purple. And his left eye, shown solid and golden, giving everything he saw an uneven hue.

_ “Shiro, what’s going on.” Keith’s voice was shaking. “What’s happening to me-” _

_ “Pidge can give you a more detailed version, but why don’t you get cleaned up, and then we can-” _

_ “I need to know - now I can’t-” _

_ Keith was panicking now. Shiro reached out and took his hand, his human hand.  _

_ “The short version is… Haggar hit you with some of her druid magic, and she… whatever she did, it triggered this.” _

“Keith?” Shiro knocked on the bathroom door. “Are you alright? You’ve been in there a long time.”

“I’m-” Keith squeezed his eyes shut. He wasn’t fine. “I’ll be right out.”

He turned off the water and surveyed the damage he had done. His purple hand hurt now when he made a fist, the skin tight and ripped. 

But still purple.

\-----

The long version went like this:

“Haggar like, drained the quintessence out of you.” Pidge exclaimed, pointing to a chart that Keith didn’t understand. “It made the purple spread on you like a virus, which is what we thought it was. The cryopod wasn’t doing anything, so we had to put you in cryofreeze until we found a solution.”

“A solution, which was my  _ genius  _ idea.” Lance grinned, and at Pidge’s glare, continued: “Pidge’s words not mine.

Pidge rolled her eyes. “We stole some pure quintessence tubs from the Galra - like the ones we found at that secret base - and dumped you in there.”

“There was a ninety-six point six percent chance that the procedure would kill you.” Slav said, cheerily, but Keith wasn’t listening anymore.

_ The druid shot him, and Keith was sent flying. He crashed into the glass and it shattered around him, scraping his neck. He held his hand to his chest, it was blotchy and purple- _

_ When Pidge came to get him, he looked at his hand again. Some of the quintessence had landed on him, and before his eyes, the purple faded away. _

“Then why am I like this?” Keith asked, and quickly explained to them the instance. Shiro’s eyes narrowed as he told this story, probably wondering why Keith would keep something like that to himself. 

“Remember that Galra from inside the Weblum?” Hunk asked.

“What?” Keith said. “Yeah - why?” What did that have to do with anything? 

“Well,” Hunk leaned forward. “I’m not sure if it was him - but he was the right size, wearing the same armor and all. But when we were getting the quintessence, he broke onto the ship and…”

“He injected you with something.” Shiro cut in, eyes downcast. “A message from Haggar.”

Keith leaned back and closed his eyes, where he could escape the yellow hue, processing all of this new information.

Back at the Blade of Marmora’s headquarters, despite confirming that he’s part Galra, Keith felt that he had even less knowledge of who he was than when he had arrived.

And now…

Those questions just kept piling up.  
  


* * *

**Shiro**

He could barely look at Keith.

Not because he was Galra - that has never mattered and will not matter to Shiro. Keith’s DNA didn’t change who he was. 

No, Shiro couldn’t look at Keith because Shiro had failed him - again.

He hadn’t been fast enough. He hadn’t thought that someone should have stayed on the ship, just in case.

He hadn’t stopped Keith from on that suicide mission in the first place.

He saw that the sadness, the anger, the confusion on Keith’s face in the brief moments he dared to look. 

_ “I’m… I’m one of the enemy.” Keith had said to Shiro, back in the castle after everyone else had left, still shaking with the news. “I’m a monster just like them.” _

_ “Keith, hey,” Shiro said, putting both hands onto his shoulders. “What makes you human?” _

_ Keith blinked at Shiro, reeling a little, confused. “What?” _

_ “Do you remember that poem, from the newspaper?” Shiro asked. “The one we used as kindling, our last campfire before Kerberos?” _

_ Shiro thought about that night a lot, while heading to Kerberos. He had locked it away, along with all the other memories of home, after he earned the title of Champion. He could still feel the heat of the fire against his dusty skin. _

_ Keith’s eyes lit up with recognition. “Yeah. Yeah I do.” _

That had reassured Keith, but this…

Shiro needed to talk to him again. Keith had the habit of curling in on himself when he was upset, of shutting everyone out. Keith shouldn't do that now, and despite all the guilt that Shiro felt around Keith, he'd be by his side the whole way.

There was just one person he needed to talk to first.

\-----

Shiro had noticed, in his avoidance of looking at Keith, that the Princess was also pointedly not looking at Keith.

Pidge had told him that he thought Keith and Allura had made peace before the mission, and Allura certainly acted that way when Keith was in cyro, but now….

“You don’t need to lecture me Shiro.” Allura said, before Shiro could even open his mouth. “I know that Keith isn’t like them. But, just… seeing him like them - it’s hard to process. It’s harder to disassociate the two.”

“Just please,” Shiro said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “don’t avoid him. But more importantly - don’t overcompensate, okay? Keith is… he’s suspicious by nature. If things don’t feel genuine, or if he feels like he’s being lied to, he’ll know.”

Allura frowned and looked away.  “I’ll try, Shiro. I’ve grown to think of you all as family and this - this shouldn’t change that.”

Shiro's mind quickly flashed back to the Trails of Marmora - of Keith's fear, coming to life before him, in the form of Shiro.

"I hope so," Shiro said.

* * *

**Haggar**

Haggar had not once left the Emperor’s side. She did not trust anyone not to take him out in his weakened state. 

It would be a long process to get him back up to full strength, to even get him to awaken. It would take dozens of planet’s quintessence to revive him.

And that’s how she discovered the Paladin's plan.

Something was off with the Red Paladin when she had encountered him - she could see it beneath his blue visor, behind the violet eyes, and hiding behind all his Terran quintessence, was the heart of a Galra.

She’d make sure that that heart would come out.

A general had informed her of the Paladin’s infiltration of a cargo ship, of their interest in the manifests, and she saw their little plan forming.

“It is complete, Haggar.” 

He was quicker than she had expected. “It’s about time.” She turned and faced her warrior. “General Crorox will give you your fleet - and you can go out and hunt down Voltron for good this time. Do not fail your Emperor, Prince Lotor.

“With the Red Paladin down, and the tracker in place-” The Prince took off his helmet to reveal a wicked grin. “-it’ll be child’s play.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I really hated the extent of Allura's lowkey racism storyline but since it's canon, I felt that I had to address it here.


	3. eye yai yai

**Pidge**

She went over the data dozens of times, but couldn’t figure out any way to change Keith back. Whatever he was injected with seems to be out of his system - which was good, but also bad, because she had no clue what it was and therefore no idea on how to stop it.

And dammit, she was an engineer, not a doctor. She could fix machines, create new ones, hack into things - but she couldn’t hack a person.

Kolivan could have provided some insight, for Keith’s sake at least - but Kolivan had left to regroup with the Blade of Marmora while Keith was still in the healing pod. Worse, they didn’t have a way to contact him - Kolivan had made it clear that he would be the one to contact them, whenever it was needed.

Stupid secret societies.

She felt pretty useless - and she knows that’s a feeling they all shared in the Castle of Lions. They had failed Keith, and right now, there was nothing they could do about it.

Since the initial introduction to his uh, condition, she hadn’t even seen Keith. He’d be in his room, or Shiro’s, or in Red’s hangar. He didn’t even come to meals - Shiro would bring a plate to Keith, wherever he was. 

And according to Hunk, Shiro would go back to the kitchen and scrape most of it into the trash can later.

She looked through Keith’s medical charts again, and by that, Pidge meant that she was staring at them blankly, not a thought coming through her mind.

“Pidge?” Someone said as they placed a hand on her shoulder.

Pidge jumped. “What?” What - she must have zoned out, and - 

“Keith?”

She hadn’t been expecting him.

Keith looked sheepishly at her, as he scratched the back of his neck. His purple neck, with his purple hand. His ear twitched.

Pidge stopped herself from staring. “Sorry, I’m just - surprised you’re here.”

“Yeah.” Keith said. Even with all the Galra features, she saw how worn down he was. Not like how he was after a hard training session, or a battle - but worn down as in defeated. “I was wondering if you could help me with something?”

She definitely hadn’t been expecting that.

“It’s fine if you can’t,” Keith added hurriedly, “I can ask Hunk, or Coran - but if they can’t I can just learn to deal with it-”

“ _ Keith _ ,” Pidge cut him off. It was just down right weird - more weird that looking at a human-Galra hybrid - to see Keith babbling like that. “What do you need?”

“I…” Keith closed his eyes for a moment, steeling himself. “I need glasses.”

Huh.

“Wow, we’re all dumb.” 

Keith raised an eyebrow at her.

“I mean -” Pidge swiveled in her chair. “I can’t believe we all just assumed it was only superficial and not like, actually affected you-”

“Pidge, Coran asked.” Keith sighed. “I lied.”

“Why?”

Keith huffed. “I thought I could handle it.”

“You’re a moron, you know that right?”

“Whatever, can you fix it or not?”

“Tell me what’s actually wrong with it, and we can go from there.”

So Keith did - he described a yellow hue that came from the left of his vision, giving him a splitting headache. How things in the hue seemed sharper. How when it was dark he could see ghostly image of things.

“It seems like it’s only affected the eye that’s visibly changed.” Pidge said. “I guess it’s safe to assume that whatever has outwardly changed, inwardly changed. And what didn’t changed, hasn’t changed.” Pidge looked at the notes she’d been taking. “What about your ears?”

“I’ve been hearing this high pitched sound a lot? But I assumed it was the castle.”

Pidge shook her head. “Since I have no idea what you are talking about, I’m going to assume that it’s just you.”

“Great.”

“That sounds like you can now hear frequencies that are too high for human ears, which is cool, and as long as it isn’t causing you any physical discomfort, we can hold off on that.”

“So, any ideas on my eye then?”

“A few, but-”

“Paladins!” Allura’s voice rang over the castle wide comms along with the alarm. “A Galra ship has just wormholed to our location! Get to your Lions!”

Keith sprang out of his chair.

“Wait -  Keith!” Pidge called out after him. “Are you sure you should be going out-?”

But, he was gone.

Pidge sighed. Keith would be fine. They’d be fine.

Pidge reached for her armor and headed towards the Green Lion.

* * *

**Keith**

_ “What the hell is that thing?”  _ Lance said over the comms.

It wasn’t an ordinary fleet - several smaller manned ships, and one large one that seemed to constantly changing directions with-

Hunk or Pidge could explain the mechanics later. Right now he had to focus, but that was even harder with his vision screwy.

And hearing, apparently, because whatever high pitched sound he was able to hear now, the Galra forces were admitting a lot of it.

“Should we form Voltron?” Hunk asked.

“Not yet.” Shiro said. “There’s five of them - five of us. I’ll take the big one. Everyone, make sure to stay within sight of the castle.”

The enemy ships were faster than any Galra ships they had ever faced. But the Red Lion was still faster.

Normally.

“Keith, are you alright?” Shiro asked, after a nasty hit that sent him into the Black Lion.

“‘M fine.” Keith ground out and shot after the ship. He tried keeping the yellow eye closed, but that gave him an increased blind spot. 

And gave Keith an idea.

He tapped on his helmet, turning it to training mode. It went dark all around him.

_ Patience yields focus. _

_ Come on, Red. _

Keith saw through Red’s eyes: the Yellow and Blue Lions swirling around each other as they avoided the ships that were after them. The Green Lion was cloaked, but Keith could still sense her through the bond.

And two ships - the one he was chasing and the big one - coming straight at him.

_ “Keith!”  _ Shiro yelled.

Keith screamed and shot his tail gun at them - he hit one, but the big one dodged and rammed him, sending him spiraling. His head rattling in his helmet, his brain rattling in his head. Everything was spinning, golden and bright.

He came crashing to a stop, but the yelling over the comms told him that something wasn’t right, something -

The high pitched sound was more intense now, and all the yelling - shit, why did everyone have to be yelling.

Keith’s jolted again - he tried the controls but nothing seemed to be happening, he can’t control his Lion’s movements.

A crash again. “I got you, buddy,” Shiro said urgently. “Everyone - back to the castle. Allura, open a wormhole - get us out of here!”

* * *

 

**Hunk**

Hunk got serious deja vu as they all waited in the Red Lion’s hangar. Once again, Red had only opened for Shiro, but this time Shiro’s strangled cry didn’t echo out of the Lion.

Shiro came down the ramp, supporting Keith who looked dazed but thankfully unharmed. Hunk thought at least, it was hard to tell with the whole Galra-hybrid change.

Shiro guided Keith to a chair. “What happened?” Keith asked.

“You blacked out?” Shiro asked, full of concern. He was still hovering over Keith.”

“Just… scrambled my head.”

Lance pulled off his helmet. “Well, apparently we’ve caught the attention of the Galra Prince.”

They all looked to Allura, who shrugged. “I am just as surprised as you to learn of Zarkon’s heir. He certainly didn’t have one ten thousand years ago.”

Something didn’t seem right about that guy. Something seemed fishy. There was this nagging in the back of Hunk’s mind, but he couldn’t place it, not yet.

Keith rubbed at his eye again, and the next thing Hunk knew, he had Pidge all up in his face.

“Hunk, give me your ribbon.” Pidge said.

“What?” Hunk asked. “Why?”

“Just give it to me.”

“No, it’s mine-”

“Hunk, you’ll get it back. I promise.” Pidge said, and she snatched it off his head before he could protest more.

She bounced over and to Keith and shoved it over his head.

“Pidge, what are you-”

She stepped back, and Hunk could see that Pidge had tied it around Keith’s head to cover his golden eye, like an eyepatch.

“A temporary fix until we can get you some glasses.” Pidge said. “Or you know, change you back.”

“Keith…” Shiro said, slowly. “Is something wrong?”

“You bet there is, he looks like a Pirate!” Lance barked.

Keith shrunk away - whatever was going on, they could handle it. He had three things on his mind right now: first, a post battle snack; two: scanning the ship for a tracking device; three: going over the audio transmission from Lotor.

* * *

**Allura**

This revelation about Prince Lotor troubled Allura. Zarkon, with an heir? She had seem him in the flesh, and couldn’t imagine…

She shuddered at the thought.

First, Keith was part-Galra. Then, Haggar was Altean. Now, Zarkon had an heir.

Her world was being turned upside down.

She had taken the words Shiro had said to her to heart. Moreso, the ones she had said to Keith. She valued him, as an ally and friend, as part of her new family. And to see this transformation was difficult, especially when there appears to be more side effects than they previously believed.

“Princess!” Allura turned, and saw Hunk running towards her, a mechanical device in his hands. “I found how they were tracking us.”

“How is that even possible?” Allura asked. “We scanned the ship after the intruder.”

Hunk gasped for breath. He must have run up from hangar. “It was on a delayed timer. It wasn’t activated right away, so when we scanned nothing had shown up.”

That was clever of them. The Galra were getting crafty.

“Good work Hunk. Why don’t you send that off into space to lead them off our trail?” Allura suggested. “As soon as you do, I can do another wormhole jump out of here.”

“Princess, you just did one-”

“I am more than fine, Hunk.”

Hunk nodded, but lingered.

“Was there something else on your mind?” Allura asked.

Hunk rubbed his forehead. It was strange to see him without the ribbon tied there. “I… I was going over the audio from Prince Lotor’s broadcast.” Hunk swallowed. “And the audio from the intruder we had.”

Allura raised her eyebrow at him, urging him to continue.

“The voices match.” Hunk said. “Lotor is the one who broke in. He’s the one who attacked Keith.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am completely making this up as I go along what is hAPPENING


	4. puberty part 2: electric space boogaloo

**Keith**

_ Breathe in… breathe out... _

Keith had never been one for meditating.

_ In… out…. _

But he ached all over - from the battle, from his intense scrubbing in the shower…

_ In… out… _

He felt as every varga that went by he was decaying more and more. The high-pitched sound, the freaking  _ eyepatch _ \- he knew the purple wasn’t spreading - they had stopped it, but he can’t help just catch sight of himself and flinch thinking it’s slowly creeping up on him. He’ll wake in the middle of the night, feeling the change in color clawing at his throat, ready to strangle him, to take whatever is left of his humanity from him.

_ “Do you remember that poem, from the newspaper?”  _

He was surprised Shiro had, honestly. Still was. But it was hard to feel like he still was.

The Galra had turned Keith into the very thing that had tortured Shiro. And Keith noticed - he did - how Shiro would either avoid looking at him, or made a point of looking at him like he was trying to hide it. 

Keith had scrubbed harder that night.

_ In… out… _

Red purred reassuringly in his mind. Her presence was a constant in his mind, and he was forever thankful that she hadn’t been taken away from him like everything else had.

When he got his hands on Prince Lotor and Haggar… He was the Paladin of Fire after all.

He’d burn them down.

* * *

 

**Lance**

Lance was bored.

There wasn’t that much to do in the castle. The video game system he and Pidge had bought couldn’t hook up to anything, the books were in a different language, and the pool was  _ on the ceiling _ .

Why did going into space have to be so… so  _ alien _ . 

He figured he’d go to the training deck then and do some target practice then. Pretend it was Halo or something. 

When the training doors slid open though, he saw the last thing he was expecting.

Or, well, sort of. Keith in the training room? Completely expected.

Keith… meditating?

“Wow, man, your space puberty is doing some weird shit to you if your…” Lance gestured wildly to Keith, despite Keith’s eyes still being closed - though his eyebrows scrunched in annoyance.

“Go away, Lance.” Keith said.

“Nuh-uh man. I need to practice my sharpshooting - not that I need it I mean, but -” Lance shook his head. “You don’t need all this space to do your  _ oooohm  _ stuff.”

Keith didn’t answer. If anything, he somehow made himself a heavier presence on the ground, like a rock.

Well. Keith would just have to deal with him then.

“Begin target training sequence,” Lance shouted, deploying his bayard. 

Lance aimed at one of the targets that appeared, and breathed in, lined up the shot-

“End training sequence,” Keith called out. Lance had just fired, and his blaster bolt left a scorch mark on the wall.

“Okay, if Allura gets mad about that, that’s on you.” Lance said, but Keith paid him no mind. It freaked Lance out to see him like this. “Hey. Hey Keith.” Lance nudged Keith’s shoulder with his knee. “Why don’t we spar, huh? See what you can do now with all your heightened senses and shit.”

Keith took in a sharp breath, his eyebrows scrunching tighter. But he didn’t respond.

Lance huffed. “Wow, it only took space puberty for you to finally shut-”

Keith grabbed a hold of Lance’s leg just below his knee and yanked. Lance toppled over with a yelp, and when he looked up, he saw flames dancing in Keith’s human eye.

“You want to spar?” Keith’s voice was dangerous.

“Uhh.”

Keith shot to his feet, ripping his jacket off. Lance scrambled up after him.

_ God dammit Lance, you and your big mouth.  _

Lance was barely standing when Keith threw the first punch, which Lance managed to dodge.

“Hey!” He said as he dodged another.

If they were back at the Garrison, as much as Lance hated to admit it, he’d be flat on his back. But training out here, he’d be able to hold his ground.

But this was still  _ Keith _ .

Lance managed to put some distance between them. They circled each other like sharks, and that’s when Lance saw it.

“Dude what happened to your arm?” Lance asked. 

Keith kicked him in the gut. “If you say puberty one more fucking time-”

Lance caught his breath and Keith’s arm. Yeah, no Lance wasn’t imaging things. His purple arm wasn’t quite the same. It had a reddish hue, like inflammation, and scratches up and down...

“Keith seriously, are you-?”

Keith flipped him over, twisting his arm, and put his boot to Lance’s throat.

Keith breathed hard, glaring down at him. Lance’s eyes darted from Keith’s arm to his face. He wanted to say something else, but the pressure on his throat told him that that would be a bad idea.

“Training room’s yours.” Keith ground out.

He let go of Lance and stormed out, forgetting his jacket.

Lance coughed as he sat up. Things with Keith were worse than they seemed. And Lance felt like he may have just made it worse.

* * *

**Shiro**

Lotor found them again.

“But I got rid of the tracking device!” Hunk yelled.

They barely made it out of there, and not even a dobash later, Lotor was there again.

There’s this thought at the back of Shiro’s mind that he won’t acknowledge.

But after the third time in less than two dobashes that they barely get away, it can’t be ignored anymore.

They scanned Keith to see if he’d been implanted with any trackers. They didn’t find anything.

But Shiro knew Keith. He knew him like he knew himself.

Besides, this wasn’t the first time Keith had tried to run away.

“I’m surprised you’re not taking Red.” Shiro said, taking a step out from behind the pod that Keith was loading his bag into.

“No you’re not. You’d have been there, then.” Keith didn’t even bother looking up at him. 

Shiro put a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Keith, you don’t have to do this-”

“I do, Shiro.” Keith turned around, and for a second, in the dim lighting of the hangar, he looked almost normal again. “I’m ending this.”

“You don’t have to do this  _ alone _ , Keith.” Shiro insisted. “We’re a team, we can help. We care about you. I…” Shiro swallowed, remembering:  _ You’ve chosen to be alone. _ “I’m not leaving you again."

Keith looked at him for a long moment. There was more that Shiro wanted to say, but even after all this time, he still couldn’t figure out the words.

“You can barely even look at me.” Keith said, voice like ice.

God, Shiro was an idiot. “Keith, it’s not what you-”

“Me being Galra is one thing, but looking like one? You can’t handle that.”

“Keith-”

“I get it. It makes sense I just, I had thought everything was going to be  _ fine- _ ”

“I failed you!” Shiro yelled then. His breath was ragged and his words were a race, running into each other as he spoke. “There’s a million things I could have done differently. I shouldn’t have let you go on that mission, not alone. I should have been quicker to get to you. We should have never left you alone, someone should have been standing guard. I should have been there for you-”

“Shiro-”

“I should have been there for you.” Shiro said, with a sigh. “I should have been there, and I wasn’t. And seeing you like this just reminds me that I’ve let you down again.”

Keith blinked at him, and then his eyebrows scrunched together, quirking slightly. Shiro knew that look.

“Shiro, none of this was your fault.” Keith said sternly. “I made my choice, this-” Keith gestured to his face “-was the consequence. Now I’m going to hunt down who is really responsible and fix it.”

“But we can help.” Shiro insisted. “We can be there for you this time.”

Keith sighed. Slowly, he reached up and untied his makeshift eyepatch. “Give this back to Hunk for me.” 

“Keith-”

“Shiro, please. I know what I’m doing, trust me.” Keith said. “And I trust you - all of you - just… just follow my lead, okay?”

Shiro had made Keith promise that he would lead one day, if anything had ever happened to Shiro. He should be glad that it didn’t come to that for Keith to be stepping up. Keith was smart. He was clever. Shiro was still anxious about letting him go off alone, but...

Shiro looked down and saw Keith was holding out his hand.

Shiro took it, pulling the younger man in for an embrace.

“I don’t know what to say.” Shiro admitted. He had known, way in the back of his mind, that he wasn’t going to be able to stop Keith. And Shiro had known, no matter how much he wanted to, that Shiro couldn’t go with him.

Keith laughed into his shoulder. “You’ve got time to figure it out.”

Shiro stayed in the hangar long after the pod - long after Keith - flew out into space.  
  



	5. cannot be explained by science... or anything for that matter

**Hunk**

He had called everyone to the bridge first thing in the morning. Or, as close to morning as you could get when you didn’t have the natural rise and fall of the sun.

They were just waiting on Shiro and Keith. The others were growing restless. But Hunk wouldn’t tell them what he had found without everyone. He knows he rambles. He just wants to do this once.

Shiro entered, alone which was surprising.

“Hey,” Lance sat up, “Where’s-?”

Shiro held up Hunk’s headband. “You can have this back.”

“Good, I feel naked without it.” Hunk wrapped it back around his head. Much better. “But where’s Keith?”

Shiro gave everyone The Look. The I Am Your Leader This is The Right Thing Look. Which was worrisome. “He’s-”

“He took a pod?” Pidge cut him off. She had pulled up the hangar charts, and there it was, a bright red X where one of the pods should be.

And then there’s uproar.

“Dude why’d you let him go-”

“We’re better as a team-”

“How are we supposed to find him-?”

“Enough!” Shiro said, commanding. “I wasn’t happy about it either. But I trust Keith. He has a plan.” It was only now that Hunk could see how tired Shiro look. It must have been painful to see Keith go. “Some battles you have to take on your own.”

The team went quiet. Hunk definitely wasn’t happy. Keith was their friend, and like, what was he even going to do, and they didn’t know where he was, so they can’t provide-

“Now, I believe Hunk called us up here for something, right?” Shiro said, and all eyes turned to Hunk.

“Oh uh yeah-” Hunk mumbled out. “One second.” 

He pulled up the security footage from the intruder, and the audio recording for Prince Lotor’s demands.

Seeing the looks on all their faces at Keith’s limp form… he knew what they were feeling. Failure. Shame. Worry.

“Okay so, remember how I was like ‘Weblum Galra’ when I saw this guy?” Hunk said. “So when Keith and I were in the Weblum Keith found this Galra who was also in there. He didn’t say anything, but he helped us get the scultrite. And then you know, held a gun to Keith a took off with a bunch.”

“Hunk, what does this have to do-”

“Just let me-” Hunk breathed. “I was trying to make Keith feel more comfortable with the whole Galra thing, so I kept cracking jokes. Calling him Galra Keith and all Keith actually made a joke that was really funny-”

“ _ Hunk _ .”

“Fine fine.” Hunk waved off. “Point is that the suits match. So even if they aren’t the same person, they are part of the same group within the Galra. And, they had the information that Keith was part Galra.”

“Just because the suits match doesn’t mean they are the same person. But,” Hunk took the audio file from the footage and brought it up next to Prince Lotor’s file. “The Galra that intruded and stabbed Keith was Prince Lotor.”

Hunk played the audio files one at a time and let the machine do the work. It confirmed for everyone this time what he had found out.

He let the news sink in.

Allura was the first to speak. “So if Keith is chasing the one what did this to him, it will lead him to Prince Lotor.”

“And Prince Lotor has somehow been tracking us.” Pidge said. “...But if Keith went off on his own…”

“Keith was convinced that Lotor was tracking him specifically.” Shiro said.

“Number One,” Coran said. “I assure you we scanned for everything. There wasn’t anything in his system that was a tracker.”

“Hey wait a tick though…” Pidge scratched her chin. “Is it possible to track quintessence?”

“What do you mean, Number Five?”

“I mean… Keith’s an anomaly right now.” She tapped away at the holo screens. He went from normal human levels to almost nothing, then we dumped him in a vat of the stuff…”

She pulled up Keith’s medical file on the screen.  His readings were off the charts.

“That’s interesting Number Five, but I don’t know if it’s possible to track that…”

“We don’t need to track Keith.” Shiro said. “When the time comes, we’ll find him.”

Lance snorted. “How the quiznak are we supposed to do that?”

Shiro turned to him, and even though Hunk couldn’t see his face, he felt The Look he was giving Lance.

“With Red.”

* * *

 

**Lotor**

Lotor was a patient man. He had waited years in exile. He had waited to build up his own forces, his own faction separate from Haggar’s. His patience would pay off; he would do what both his father and Haggar had failed to do.

He would take down Voltron.

He was still patient, albeit a bit eager about setting out again. He waited for his general to do her work. She was meditating, focusing. 

This general had told him about the half-blood on team Voltron long before Haggar had figured it out. Lotor had a soft spot for half-breeds: he was one himself, and thus all four of his generals were. Haggar had simply ordered a little chaos, to kill him. But Lotor knew that there was value in him.

In fact, the Red Paladin had made quite the impression on his general. Enough so, that with her abilities she could find him. The Paladins can’t block or trace a psych link.

Lotor was a patient man, but this time was taking longer. 

Something was different this time.

And when his general opened her eyes, he knew exactly what was different.

A wicked grin spread across Lotor’s face.


	6. boss battle part 1

**Keith**

He was reminded of the desert.

This planet - the planet that he and Shiro had crashed landed on after their first fight with Zarkon - was greyer, though it was also more yellow since the last time. It was rockier, colder, and more barren. But he was alone in it, a man on a mission.

Well, a half-man, half (maybe?) Galra half-breed.

Even with Shiro’s insistence, Keith knew that he was not the same person he was before. He had changed in the desert. He had changed with Voltron. He had changed with the knowledge of his heritage.

He wasn’t the same kid with anger issues with no outlet. He wasn’t completely alone in the world.

But there were somethings - at least for the time being - that he had to do alone.

Such as facing the enemy that was landing in a ship at the bottom of the hill he was on.

Just like he’d been drawn out with weird energy to the desert, he’d known that it was him and only him that was being tracked.

Keith gets up from where he’s crouched down, and turns away from the ship, higher up the mountain that he was on. They’ll come to him.

* * *

**Lotor**

His generals remain out of sight, but Lotor has no desire to remain hidden. Draw them out with bait, trap them with reinforcements. 

Lotor heard a sound behind him and spun around with his sword, blocking the one coming towards him.

It’s almost too easy.

Lotor hadn’t seen the final result of their little mischief, but it sure was something. The Paladin’s had been able to stop it part way. Leaving one eye human, and one eye Galra. Both, however, were absolutely livid.

This was going to be fun.

“It is customary for subjects of the Galra empire to salute their Prince.” Lotor said.

The Red Paladin’s eyes widen - searching his face.

Lotor laughed. “You’re two different eyes do not deceive you - I am only half-Galra, just like you.”

The Red Paladin moved, ducking out of the way and coming at him again. A battle cry escaping his lips.

“I’m nothing like you!” The Red Paladin spat.

Lotor tsked, and dodged another attack. “Now, that’s simply fundamentally not true.”

His opponent was no doubt a great fighter. He had a fire bubbling under the surface, seeping out through his sword. He reminded Lotor of himself, when he was young and brash and angry at the world. 

“I am Prince, heir to the Galra empire.” Lotor said as they fought. “But I am not my father. I am probably more like you than I am him.”

“Shut up!” The Red Paladin yelled. “I am nothing-”

“You were put into exile because of your heritage.” Lotor said. “Your people, your team, did they treat you differently? Did they lose all trust in you? Do they see you as a monster?”

The Red Paladin charged, and this time Lotor was able to disarm him. His bayard flying away from him, dematerializing. The Red Paladin pulled out a knife that changed into a longer Blade.

“Caught up with the Blade of Marmora, I see?” Lotor narrowed his eyes. “But let me guess, they still didn’t accept you either.”

Lotor disarmed the Red Paladin again, this time twisting his arm around and tossing him to the floor. Lotor held his sword out in front of the paladin’s furious face.

“But me?” Lotor said. “I am like you. I know what it feels like. I take in people like you. Just look at my generals.” On cue, the four warrior women stepped up over the ridge, on all sides. “I seek to change the Empire, to build one where diversity is cherished.”

Lotor put his sword back into its sheath and stuck out his hand.

“Join me, and together we can build a better universe. No one will look down on you again.”

The Red Paladin breathed heavily. He glanced at the generals that surrounded him, and then back at Lotor, his glare at full force.

The Red Paladin spit at Lotor’s feet. “The only one looking down on me is you.”

He was too much like Lotor when he was younger then - refusing to listen to anyone. What a shame.

What a waste.

Lotor reached back and pulled out his sword.

* * *

 

**Shiro**

“Princess!” Coran shouted, and all heads turned to him. “The Red Lion has left the hangar!”

Allura jumped up to her controls. “Do I need to open a wormhole?”

“Just follow Red, Princess.” Shiro said. “Everyone else, get to your Lions. We need to be ready.”

When Shiro had figured out what Keith was doing, it had felt obvious. That didn’t mean he was happy about it. But he trusted Keith, they all did.

And now they’d get him back. Shiro would get him back.


	7. insert battle part 2 here

**Keith**

“Join me, and together we can build a better universe. No one will look down on you again.”

Keith looked around at the Galra - half-Galra - surrounding him, then at Lotor’s hand. Keith honestly hadn’t been expecting this.

It wasn’t a welcome surprise.

Keith spat at Lotor’s feet. “The only one looking down on me is you.”

Keith already had a team, already had a family. He’d forged it through the desert and through space and blood and no one, especially not some bratty prince, was going to take that away from him.

Lotor’s expression changed, and he pulled out his sword.

Keith felt a roar in his mind, enveloping him in fire.

_ Red _ .

Just in time.

When Red roared this time, it was out loud as she broke through the planet’s atmosphere. It was all the distraction that Keith needed.

Keith kicked Lotor’s legs out from under him, sending him sprawling. Keith rolled away, grabbing his Galra blade in one hand in his bayard in the other. 

A shadow loomed overhead, of four more lions and a castle. His trap was set.

“It’s still just you and me.” Keith said, twirling his two blades. 

Lotor glared violently at him and pushed himself up to his feet. “You’ll never win. Even if you beat me today, you’ll still be a monster in the rest of the universe’s eyes!”

That’s where Lotor didn’t understand him. Keith doesn’t care about the universe’s opinion - how to the Galra he’d be some half-breed, to the rest he couldn’t be trusted. He only cared about the opinions of the six people who’d just flown to join him. And his heritage, his hybrid appearance - none of that mattered to them.

“Stop projecting.” Keith snorted.

Lotor charged.

* * *

**Hunk**

Just as the Lion’s came within sight of Keith - on the ground, surrounded by Lotor’s forces - a squadron of fighters came up from the other side, heading right towards them.

“Princess - handle the fleet.” Shiro said. “The rest of us, we need to get on the ground and help Keith.”

“Hey, I think I could be more help if I was in-” Hunk begun, but was cut off as his own Lion ejected him.

Hunk was screaming as he fell, his stomach turning, oh god oh god-

He used his jetpack, straightening himself up, but he still landed harshly on the ground.

“Oh, don’t throw up, don’t throw up.” Hunk muttered to himself. He looked up to see the Yellow Lion heading back towards the castle. “Betrayed by my own Lion…”

“Hunk!” Shiro yelled. “We need you!”

Hunk swallowed hard. No puke today. “I’m coming!”

He had landed on the other side of the ridge, so he had to climb up over it. Once again, he’d probably have been better in the air.

When he got to the crest of the hill, he saw below Keith and Lotor battling it out. Shiro was fighting some giant, Lance this rainbow colored creature - was Pidge fighting a  _ cat- _ ?

Hunk saw something in the corner of his eye, and it was just enough time to dodge the fist that was flying towards his skull.

“Woah!” Hunk reeled back and pulled out his bayard, and shot wildly in the air. 

The general shot off on their own jetpack, holding a gun out towards him, shooting at him. Their jetpack was at their ankles, that’s where Hunk needed to aim.

“You’re the one from the Weblum!” Hunk said, shooting out the general out of the sky. 

But the general was quick even grounded, and soon Hunk found himself flat on his back, a gun pressed against his helmet.

The general disabled his mask and - it was a girl, a lady Galra. Huh. Hunk realized he’s never seen a lady Galra before. Or half-Galra, judging by the ears.

She reached back behind her, and Hunk braced himself - she was really strong that wasn’t fair.

“If you want him back to normal, give him this.” She said, holding out a vial. “It’ll counteract what Lotor put him in.” 

“ _ What _ .” Hunk blinked at her. “Why should I trust anything you say - much less something to inject my friend with-?”

“Because I could kill you right now if I wanted to.” The general spat out. “The Red one… he saved my life. The debt is paid.”

She pressed the vial into his hand, and lifted her gun back. “The next time we meet, I won’t hesitate to kill you, or any of you.”

“Oh, I believe you.” Hunk said, and then with all the force he could muster, he flipped her off him and reached for his bayard. “You wouldn’t mind sharing how you were tracking us either, then?”

The general smirked at him. “The debt has already been paid.”

Hunk planted his feet firmly on the ground, his bayard at the ready. “It was worth a shot.”

Hunk opened fire.

* * *

**Shiro**

Shiro had faced stronger opponents before. He’s faced bloodthirster opponents before.

And he’s beat them all.

This one would be no different. He had a motivation even greater than his own survival now.

And as grueling as the battle still was, Shiro still felt like he had the upperhand.

So when they started retreating, Shiro was counting that as a victory. He could let this one go, if that meant he could turn right around and go help Keith-

“ _ Keith _ !” Shiro’s voice ripped from his throat. He could barely take in what he was seeing: the hooded general, her hand to the back of Keith’s neck; Keith’s Galran blade, in his own hand - by his  _ own  _ hand - plunging into his own stomach. “ _ KEITH _ !”

The general and Lotor were taken up by their ship, and Shiro ran faster that he ever had in his life to catch Keith’s body just as his knees hit the ground.

“Keith, Keith can you hear me?” Shiro said, pressing his hand around the knife that was still sticking out of Keith. “Keith-”

“One of them has mind-control.” Keith slurred out. “All.. all part Galra. Why… why didn’t I get a cool power...”

Fucking shit.

“Allura, I need-” Shiro began, but a roar filled the air, and the Red Lion was in front of him, opening her mouth for him. Shiro wasted no time lifting Keith and getting him back inside. “Everyone back to the castle! I need a pod ready!”

Red flew on her own back to the castle. She’d have flown him into the med bay herself if she could.

Coran met him in the hangar. Pidge in the hall, Lance and Hunk in the med bay. He knew they were all watching him. He’d lost his shit last time, but no, no he’d keep it together this time. He’d try to at least.

“You still there Number Four?” Coran asked, and Keith grunted in response, half out of it. “I’m going to pull the dagger out.” Coran turned to Shiro then. “Number One, I need you to cauterize the wound.”

Shiro couldn’t bear to look at Keith as he screamed, even harder when Shiro’s hand burned at his flesh. 

Keith mumbled something as they worked at removing his armor. Shiro leaned in, focusing on the fact that Keith was going to be fine he was going to be fine. “Tracker…” Keith said. “I put a tracker on Lotor…”

Keith did say he had a plan.

Shiro turned to Pidge.

“I’m on it.” She said, and ran from the room.

“Number Four, we’re going to put you into the pod now.” Coran said. “You shouldn’t be in there more than a quintant.”

Keith nodded - or, tried too. Shiro wiped some of his sweaty hair from Keith’s forehead, and Keith turned to look at him at the touch.

“See you on the other side.” Keith said, with the smallest of grins.

The healing pod hissed closed, and Shiro let go of a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really hard because I knew what needed to happen but not how to get there so... word vomit happened?
> 
> On the bright side I figured out the rest, and we got 2 chapters left.


	8. oops i did it again

**Keith**

When the healing pod hissed open, Keith stumbled out and onto the floor. His eyes were glued with sleep, but when he opened them, he saw he was alone in the healing bay.

Which was… weird, and unsettling. 

Keith stood up and touched the spot on his stomach where he’d been made to stab himself. He could feel the slight ridge of a new scar. That was fine.

What wasn’t fine was his reflection he caught in the shiny castle walls as he looked for everyone else. As much as he told Shiro he had a plan, he didn’t really have any idea how he was going to fix himself. He felt itchy again, his desire to scrub it all away coming back with a vengeance. 

Red purred inside his mind, a warm, comforting presence, at least.

No one was in the training deck, or the lounge. Maybe it was the middle of the night and everyone was sleeping? But the lights were on in the castle, so that couldn’t be it. The bridge, they were probably on the bridge.

His room was on his way to the bridge, so he figured he’d get back to clothes from the ratty and torn under armor he was wearing.

Every part of his wanted to head to the bathroom, to scrub it all away but. No. He’d restrain himself. Somehow now, going into that room would have felt as if Lotor had won. 

He just needed to get dressed, find the others, and figure out what had happened.

He was setting out towards the bridge when he heard voices coming from Green’s hangar.

“It’s not happening. We have no idea what that would do to him.” Shiro? He thought that was Shiro. He sounded angry, tired

“It should be Keith’s decision, since you know, it affects him the most-” Another voice, but Keith couldn’t tell if it was Lance or Hunk.

“It affects all of us. And this is no doubt some ruse by the Galra-”

“She said she was repaying a life debt.” Hunk, that was definitely Hunk. “Coran said so himself, those are like, scared, deep bonds within the Galra-”

“That was ten thousand years ago.” Allura cut in. “And that still doesn’t change the fact that-”

“Keith should decide-”

“Decide what?” Keith asked as he turned the corner into the hangar.

Everyone jumped and looked at him, and they look like they saw a ghost.

Lance broke the silence. “Hey man, you weren’t supposed to be out of the pod for another varga!”

Keith shrugged and walked over to where everyone was, firmly aware of everyone’s gaze on him -  _ especially  _ Shiro’s. There was some chemical composition on the screen that he didn’t recognize, and with the yellow hue still corrupting his vision, he couldn’t really make anything out anyway. “What’s going on?”

Hunk looked nervous. Shiro was glaring at him. Allura and Coran cringing, Lance and Pidge ducking-

Hunk inhaled. “We-”

“ _ Hunk _ .” Shiro snapped.

“We may have a way to change you back-”

“Hunk, no.”

“Shiro.” Keith snapped at him, his heart beating wildly in his chest. Shiro’s mouth clenched closed, and he looked away. Keith turned to Hunk. “What are you talking about?”

Hunk explained to him: Lotor’s general, the one from the Weblum, owing him a life debt. He had saved her life, and occurring to Coran and Allura that forges a deep bond between the two. It’s how they were about to track Keith. It can only be broken when the debt is paid. This chemical they were looking at, this syringe, she said would fix him.

“I think you should be able to decide on your own.” Hunk said, poking his fingers together. “But we can’t agree on whether it’s a trap or not.”

“It has to be.” Shiro said, and Keith realized just how haggard he looked. “After all the trouble they put into making you this, why would one of Lotor’s general’s betray him to just undo all that?”

“Not to mention.” Coran piped up. “Our scanners have no idea what this concoction is. But then again, we really have no idea how they did this to you, either.”

Keith took everyone in, and shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”

Shiro’s eyes blew wide. “Keith, you can’t be serious.”

“I’m completely serious. Hunk’s right this is my choice-”

“We don’t have enough information-?”

“HEY guys.” Lance said loudly then. “Why don’t we give these two some privacy? Yeah, Why don’t we get dinner ready, Hunk? And Allura, who's flying this castle?” Lance began shoving everyone out, all - except Pidge, mumbling about how it was her hangar, her lab - glad for an excuse to leave that electrically charged room.

The last time Keith and Shiro were alone together they were saying goodbye. The last time Keith and Shiro were alone together, they were trusting one another, blindly, unconditionally.

Keith crossed his arms. “What’s the real reason?” Shiro maintained a straight face, but Keith knew him. He knew him all too well. “ _ Shiro _ .”

“It’s a risk.” Shiro finally managed to say.

Keith snorted. “We take risks every day.”

“And we’ve been risking you a lot lately.” Shiro said. “You’ve had more time in the healing pod in the last month than any of us ever have. I don’t want to see you back there, not again.”

“There’s no way to guarantee that, Shiro.”

“But we could guarantee it’s not from this!” Shiro finally snapped. “How can you expect me to just sit back and watch you possibly kill yourself!” Shiro’s voice cracked, and it cracked something within Keith. “I’ve held you as you were dying twice and I can’t do it again, Keith, I can’t. I can’t hold you that way, I don’t want to hold you like that…”

Shiro’s voice trailed off as his breathing slowed, and Keith…

_ Oh. _

Maybe he was reading into it. Maybe it was the slip of the tongue. But whatever it was, it zeroed in on Keith, and the feelings he’d been locking away, because they were never reciprocated, because how could they be reciprocated?

Keith swallowed hard. He couldn’t look away from Shiro. 

But still, Keith reached for the syringe on the table.

“Just trust me, Shiro.” Keith said, sliding up his jacket sleeve. “I have a good feeling about this.”

Shiro’s eyes widened, and he rushed forward to stop Keith, but it was already in his skin, in his vein, in his blood-

And Shiro’s hands don’t go for his arm. They go for his face, either side, and he’s holding Keith steady-

And Shiro’s mouth is on his, desperate, and Keith responds immediately. He’s thought about this moment a lot but he had never expected it to become a reality. But it’s better than any dream Keith ever had, Shiro’s hands in his and his teeth along his lip.

When they finally break apart, Shiro stayed close, his forehead on Keith’s.

“I love you.” Shiro said, and Keith’s heart fucking  _ stopped _ . “I love you, and if you die because of that, I’m going to kill you.”

Keith can’t help but laugh, a large laugh full of joy that he hasn’t managed in the longest time. “I love you too.”

Maybe none of this was real. Maybe it was all too good to be true. Maybe he was still in the healing pod, dreaming. 

But the feel of Shiro was real, it was solid, it was warm, it was bright.

And so was the spasm in his stomach, and the bile in his throat, and he pushed Shiro back just in time before throwing up onto the hangar floor.

“ _ Keith!”  _ Shiro was at his side in a second. “Don’t you fucking do this to me!”

Keith’s head was spinning; he clenched his eyes shut tight. Shiro’s voice got farther and farther away, but he could still feel him right at his side. He felt like he was spinning in zero G, the vertigo keeping him hunched.

And then it passed, slowly. And voices - multiple voices - started getting louder, closer.

And when Keith opened his eyes, his vision was clear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and finally, i've committed to the Full SheithTM


	9. ding dong the end is here

**Lotor**

Despite their little  tête-à-tête with the red paladin, everything else in Lotor’s plan was falling into place.

That was, until the lights went out and the screens went dark.

“Axca, report.” Lotor snapped. 

“None of the controls are working, sir.” Axca said. “It appears all systems are down. We’ve been hit with some kind of EMP.”

Lotor growled. “How is that-”

“Oh, it’s the kitties!” Ezor said.

Zethrid rolled her eyes. “All the scanners are down, we don’t know-”

“I don’t need a scanner.” Ezor said. “I have eyes.” 

She pointed to the window then, and they all saw it.

_ Voltron _ .

* * *

**Shiro**

“Let’s make this easy, shall we?” Shiro said, as they flew towards Lotor’s ship. He hadn’t been able to keep the wicked grin off all day. Vengeance was always sweet. “Form sword.”

Shiro felt his team’s energy flow through him, the energy of Voltron. He felt their agreement and excitement.

“With pleasure.” Keith said, and the sword blazed to life.

And with one slice through Lotor’s ship, it was incapacitated. It wouldn’t be flicking on back to life after Lance had hit it with his sonic cannon.

“Okay team, break apart for phase two.”

* * *

**Hunk**

This mission must have been Hunk’s second - no, third favorite. The first being the space mall - he’d love to go back to the space mall. The second being the Balmera, because even though it was scary, he met Shay, and learned what it meant to be a paladin. Huh. Maybe that one should have been first.

Either way, this was third. Because Hunk’s only job was to destroy anything that looked important or dangerous with his bayard. Target practice, really.

But he was paired with Keith. And oh, things always happened when he was paired with Keith.

“I see one!” Keith yelled, and ran off down the hall.

Hunk groaned, but followed. A blaster shot whizzed past his head, and that told him all he needed to know about which general they had found.

Then Hunk heard the sound of swords clashing, and he knew they didn’t just find a general. They had found the prince.

* * *

**Lance**

Lance didn’t know what the pink chick’s deal was, but evil or not, damn she was-

“Quit flirting a fight, Lance!” Pidge yelled at him.

“I’m multitasking!” He yelled back. The general grinned at him, and just, wow, she was pretty-

And she’d gone invisible again, great.

“Hey, guys?” Hunk’s voice ran out over the comms. “We found Lotor. Or rather, Keith found Lotor.”

Yeah, just great.

“Can’t the mullet not seek revenge on his own for a minute?” Lance said, shooting wildly. But that giggle was gone, and so must have the general been.

“Send us your coordinates.” Pidge said, glaring at him. “We’re on our way.”

“Call me!” Lance yelled to the air, on the off chance that the pretty Galra girl was still there.

* * *

 

**Pidge**

_ Keith better not get stabbed this time. _

Pidge and Lance were almost to the coordinates that Hunk sent when an explosion rocked the ship. She spared a glance at Lance, and then they both charged on ahead.

“Hunk? Keith?” Shiro’s voice came over the comms. “What’s going on?”

Pidge could only imagine what it must look like to Shiro, who was still outside in the Black Lion.

Shiro sucked in a breath, and the anticipation made her heart stop-

“Lance, Pidge, get to the extraction point.” Shiro said. “The Red Lion got Keith and Hunk.”

Lance groaned as they changed course back to the way they came. But it wasn’t the exercise that was bothering Pidge.

_ Keith better not have gotten himself blown up. _

* * *

**Keith**

He and Hunk had got back to the castle first, and Keith practically ran to his room.

He just had to see himself in the mirror. He had to memorize the glorious, smug expression that he had that had pissed Lotor off so much.

His face: his pale, human face.

When Lotor saw that all his hard work had been undone, he was in shock, anger, frustration. If Lotor’s skin wasn’t already purple, he’d probably have turned beet red.

And even though Lotor got away - an explosion sending them all into space, Lotor being picked up by a smaller vessel - they’d set his plan back by months.

Every little victory helped.

Keith let his armor clatter to the floor, and stripped off his black undersuit down to the waist. Lotor would never know, but he had succeeded, partially.

From Keith’s heart - where Haggar had initially struck him - all the way down to his left hand the purple remained. Whatever back and forth between human and Galra happened to him, it was clear it was already mixed and couldn’t go back fully. 

But that was fine with Keith. He was part Galra, but he was human first. Human most. The need to scrub was still there sometimes, but it was getting better as he accepted this new reality.

Besides, he could see again. 

“You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.” Shiro said, knocking on the bathroom door. “You can’t go running off every time Lotor’s around.”

Keith stood up straighter, crossing his arms over his bare chest. His grin only got smugger when he saw Shiro’s eyes dart down. “I don’t now that I’ve got what I wanted.”

Shiro cocked an eyebrow at him. “Oh, what’s that then?”

Keith shrugged. “Satisfaction.”

Keith took a step towards Shiro. “This is more important though.” And he pulled Shiro down for a kiss.

Keith felt Shiro’s metal hand interlace with his - his Galra had with Keith’s Galra hand.

Shiro pulled up for air, but he kept his forehead pressed against Keith’s.

“When are we going to tell the others?” Shiro asked.

Keith snorted. “If they’re smart, they’ll figure it out.”

“Attention, Castle of Lions.” Pidge’s voice rang out over the castle wide comms then. “Would all paladins please  _ stop making out  _ and come to the bridge for debriefing?”

Shiro laughed into Keith’s neck. “I guess they’ve figured it out.”

“Well, Pidge is smart, so-”

Shiro kissed him again before turning to head out - their Galra hands still locked. Keith glanced over his shoulder, to catch himself in the mirror one last time. 

Definitely human alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to thank everyone who read this and stuck with it. The first part of chapter 1 had been sitting in my drafts since like February and was meant to be a one shot. It turned into this thing that I made completely up as I went along with 0 to none proofreading.
> 
> I usually do some proofreading, but this was 100% winged.

**Author's Note:**

> buy me a [coffee?](http://ko-fi.com/katebishoop)


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